Both teams were desperate to get their first win of the competition having lost their two earlier games against New Zealand and Argentina, and though Tonga dominated the first half, Ireland’s strong showing after the break was enough to ensure Eric Elwood’s team a first taste of victory in Wales.
Tonga started brightly and took advantage of some early Irish hesitancy with fly half Sione Toke successful with two fine penalties in the opening 10 minutes.
Ireland were starved of possession and got lucky when Tonga threw a loose pass, which wing Chris Cochrane intercepted to race the length of the pitch to score minutes later.
It was a harsh score on Tonga, who had seen fullback Mateo Malupo make a stunning break through the heart of the Irish defence in the build-up.
Both sides showed ambition on the attack as the half wore on, but it was Ireland who got the next score when scrum half Ian Porter put his first penalty of the afternoon just before the half hour mark.
Tonga, though, hit right back with an impressive display of offloading and slick handling as Malupo, who had already made a number of superb breaks, was on hand to run in a try. Toke missed the conversion, but made amends with two perfect penalties just before the break to see Tonga lead 17-10 at the turnaround.
Porter slashed that advantage to a point within five minutes of the restart with two terrific long-range penalties to bring his side right back into it and though Toke replied for Tonga with a strike of his own, it was Ireland who were beginning to control the game.
Fullback Niall Morris used his pace and strength to burst through the defence to score minutes later and it got better for Ireland when Cochrane grabbed his second shortly afterwards as the Irish made the most of a Tongan mistake close to their try line.
Another penalty from Man of the Match Porter and a try from replacement Stephen Archer put a gloss on the score for Ireland before Tonga claimed a consolation try in injury time through wing Salesi Sete.
The victory means Ireland finish third in Pool A and will now playoff for places ninth to 12th, while for Tonga the threat of relegation to the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy looms over them as they will contest 13th to 16th place.
Ireland Head Coach Eric Elwood said of his side’s victory: “The second half performance was fantastic. We had a chat at half-time and a few harsh words were said because we didn’t turn up at all and we were second fiddle. We got some great scores in the second half though and played some good rugby. We’re not as physically strong as some of the other teams so we try and get the ball away and this has been a while coming and we got the win.”
Meanwhile, Tonga Head Coach Fe’ao Vakata added: “We had talked about our second half performances before this game because in our last two games we played a good first half but lost our concentration in the second and that happened again today. We worked on our set pieces and they were certainly improved today, but I was always worried about our defence and today the tackling was not good enough against Ireland and we conceded some soft tries.”
